


Resonance

by Skullszeyes



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Confusion, Crying, Desperation, Emotional Manipulation, False Memories, Fantasy, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Illusions, Keyblade War (Kingdom Hearts), M/M, Male Friendship, Male Slash, Mental Breakdown, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, POV Alternating, POV Male Character, POV Third Person Limited, Psychological Trauma, Reality Bending, Romance, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2020-10-14 00:35:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20591729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Sora & Riku are locating their friends who have gone missing since the "disaster." Except, even they aren't sure what is going on, or why their memories are fluctuating, and reality is bending around them. There's someone watching them from the shadows, someone who wants to take full control of what is happening to them.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s cold. The rain is ice through the fabric of his red and black sweater as he sprints through the dark streets. It’s been a perpetual night and still he’s running, and barely catching his breath. He only finds small reprieves before he’s once more forced to leave the area. 

Scent.

His scent is giving him away. 

It’s obvious, but he can’t change it, so he pushes himself to find a way to get far away as fast as he can from the pack of hunting dogs that chase him.

He can’t fight them the way that he hopes. He’s too tired, he needs a potion, but it’s been way too long since he’s had one, or since he’s found one. He shivers as he finds another place to lean against, a cold smooth wall, and he closes his eyes, trying to catch each breath, trying to stop his heart from ripping from his chest, and his lungs from burning. 

“I have to find...her...I have to find Kairi,” Sora murmurs to himself. It’s been way too long since the thought manages to rise in his mind. He was so busy running for his life, that everything else fell apart. Even his urges to find Riku, but he knows with a small bit of pride where Riku went. 

Kairi isn’t the only one he needs to find. The others went missing about several days ago. And Sora was alone in the abyss, hoping that his light might not end up revealing his location, only for that bit of faith to falter when they found him. Over and over again with their weapons glinting in the light of the streets, rain drops falling from the steel, they gave him empty smiles within their dark hoods, and readied themselves for a battle. 

Sora, however, couldn’t go on anymore. He had to run, even if there was a part of him that told him to turn back, to face them, but he was smarter as the days went on since the disaster struck. He had to be smart about this. 

And he had to listen to what Riku told him. 

* * *

_ His hands set against Sora’s shaking shoulders as their eyes met, one full of rage, the other full of patience. “Sora. You have to run.” _

_ “I’m not doing that,” Sora said, scowling, and unsure of why Riku would suggest such a thing. “I can’t. My friends need me, they need me to be strong for them.” _

_ Riku frowned at him, but his patience stayed firm on his face. “I know, Sora, but this time, you have to listen to me. He’s going to win if we don’t think this through.” Sora hated hearing that from Riku, but there was also the same assurance he’s been hearing since they were young in Riku’s voice. “Kairi is gone, Namine and the others have vanished.” He looked behind him, but there was no sign of fear, not like what was on Sora’s. “Right now. Things are different. If we don’t do this right, the war will be over, and we’ll be on the losing side.” _

_ “What about you?” Sora asked. Finally, all his resolution and stubbornness faded away, and he felt himself sulking at the truth in Riku’s words. _

_ He smiled, “I’ll do what I do best.” His Keyblade appeared in his hand, silver with a black handle. “I’ll give you time.”_

* * *

Sora wishes and hopes that Riku is fine, and that he’ll see him again sooner than later. Right now, he has his own issues to deal with. The Organization was close behind, and the feeling of their presence makes him shudder, he sucks his breath in and clenches his teeth. He has to calm down, but he can’t. 

Thoughts intermingle with the patience of Riku’s voice, and without another thought, Sora’s running down the street once more, away from the wall he was leaned against. 

He hasn’t slept much either since it all began. Or maybe when it all ended. 

He doesn’t want to come to that conclusion. That everything ended on the battlefield when the light became darkness, and the sight of his friend’s presence vanished before his eyes. Sora thought maybe he could help, that he could bring them back in some way, but he knew now that it was inevitable. 

They were wasting time, and Riku could be dead.

It was different. He could feel it, but wasn’t sure how to explain the difference. As if he entered another world, and that world itself got twisted up with the darkness and the light. Unlike the balance of both, this was chaotic. A silent creature watching his movements, speaking in words he couldn’t hear or even understand when he tried to reach out for it.

All Sora could do was run and run and run until he can’t anymore.

He skids on the wet pavement and turns a corner only to see an Organization member at the end of the street. The lights above the person is bright, but falls into a dim yellow as Sora backs away. It’s only one member, and maybe, if Sora is a bit more ambitious, he can kill the Organization member. 

Sora summons his Keyblade, and even with his fingers curling around the handle, he senses the weakness in the blade, in himself, that it leaves this fight undesirable before it even begins.

“I’m not scared,” Sora whispers to himself as he walks toward the Organization member, trying his hardest to seem confident even if he doesn’t fully feel it. 

The Organization member takes something from within their black coat and pulls out a photo. They throw it to the ground and disappear before Sora, who only finds this utterly confusing. Since he left the graveyard, they’ve been hunting him, bent on killing him, like they possibly killed Riku. 

Except this was strange. 

Why didn’t they attack him? 

Sora glances around and no longer feels the others that were following him. He nervously clears his throat as he walks closer toward the photo that sits on the cement, becoming wet from the rain. 

He goes still at the sight of the photo. Recognizing its importance, but at the same time, conflicted of why the Organization member even had it in the first place. 

Sora reaches down and picks up the photo. 

Roxas stands with his three friends before the Old Mansion in Twilight Town. The one where he lived in during Sora’s time inside the pod to gain back his memories. 

“Why did you have this?” Sora asked, glancing around the street, but the Organization member is gone. “And why did you give me it?” He tucked it into his pocket. 

There was a lot of strange things that were happening, but this was the strangest. It broke off what he was doing, destroying a part of a routine, but at the same time, building onto a path that was meant to be set when his friends were together. And now? What was he supposed to do.

“Riku…” Sora whispered, trying to think of a possible connection to the photo and the mansion. “Namine...lived there for awhile…” He wasn’t sure of what he would eventually find, but he’d have to figure something out. 

Sora checked the streets, but he no longer sensed anyone nearby. He hoped he would have a larger window like this earlier, but at least he has one, and can’t complain. The one thing he did have since the entire the disaster, and his friends vanished, was that he still had the gummi ship. 

He makes his way to the hideout, hands shaking and clothes soaked to his skin. He pushes back strands of his hair, he didn’t want it sitting in a place where it was obvious, so he had to hide it in this world. He opened the hatch and crawled inside, finding his way to the front and starting up the ship.

Whoever gave him the photo must want him to go to Twilight Town. Or this could be some kind of trap, or possibly, Riku was there, and even Namine, and Roxas. He hoped someone was there so he didn’t have to linger in the darkness alone. 

Sora sniffled, and the ship began to rumble and the lights outside flashed on, and Sora’s heart raced and his breath stalled in his throat at the man outside of the ship. He was familiar with white hair and brown skin, his eyes were golden in the bright light that shined on him, and he didn’t wince as he smiled up at Sora. 

He wasn’t stopping him, why? 

After all this time chasing after him and trying to kill him, why let him leave? 

It was too late to ask questions, Sora wanted to leave this world of darkness, and find a way to locate Riku and the others. As the ship rose, and he steered into the sky, past the atmosphere where the stars grew brighter before him. He put the ship on autopilot and pulled himself out of his seat. 

He needed to get out of his clothes and put on new ones. He found a red sweater and black pants. It’ll have to do until his actual clothes get washed and dried. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped himself up as he sat down in the hall of the ship, and closed his eyes. It’ll take awhile to get to Twilight Town, and maybe if he can finally sleep, it’ll be fine. 

Sleep drags him down quick, and his body relaxes into the blankets.

And there’s a light, one that’s brighter than most, and it’s hard to see who it is before he finds himself looking at Riku sitting on the beach. He’s resting his arms on his knees, looking toward the sunset as the sky dims above him.

* * *

_ “Riku,” Sora whispers. _

_ His hair is silver and his skin soft, but when he turns to Sora, he’s frowning at him. “Took you long enough, I thought I would be waiting forever for you.” _

_ “I…” Sora slumps his shoulders as he walks toward Riku, “I spent too long in their world.” He sits down beside Riku. “I’m sorry, Riku, but I couldn’t find any of them. I was too tired by the time I left.” _

_ “How long were you there?” Riku asks, watching Sora as he lets his legs stretch out, the sand peeking through his toes. The sand is warm in his dream, and it feels close to home, almost, more like a taste of what he could have if he hadn’t screwed up. _

_ “A few days.” _

_ “How long?” Riku asks. _

_ “Six,” Sora whispers, bringing his legs up and placing his arms on them. “I ran out of potions on the fourth day, and I almost lost two battles by the fifth if they hadn’t slowed down.” _

_ “They wouldn’t have done that.” _

_ “They wouldn’t….” Sora agrees. “I think they were playing with me, knowing I was going to lose, but something strange happened. One of the Organization members gave me a photo of Roxas with Hayner, Pen—” _

_ “An Organization member gave you a photo?” Riku asked, incredulously. _

_ Sora nods. “I’m going to Twilight Town right now.” He looks to Riku and frowns at him. “I thought maybe it was from you...I was thinking of the time when you were pretended to be Ansem, the heartless. But from your reaction, it wasn’t you.” _

_ “No,” Riku said, turning his attention to the horizon, “it wasn’t me. Why would I give you a photo, Sora? I would have left with you, or...at least brought you with me back to the world of light.” _

_ It was strange, but Sora didn’t understand it either. _

_ “I’m going to Twilight Town, if it wasn’t you, it must be someone who wants me to go there.” _

_ Riku shook his head, “No, this is a bad idea, Sora,” he reaches out and grabs Sora’s arm, “don’t go to Twilight Town, I don’t know who wanted you to go there, but right now, we can’t just go off the path. I think I found Aqua and Terra, but...it’s strange, the last time we saw them, they were with Ventus. And he wasn’t with them this time.” _

_ “Maybe Ven disappeared like Roxas, Namine, and Kairi.” _

_ “I don’t know,” Riku let go of Sora’s arm, “and if Axel wasn’t in their world, along with the other previous Organization members, then this is a really bad situation we’re in.” _

_ Sora and Riku stayed quiet, thinking over their options. _

_ “I’m going to Twilight Town,” Sora told him, “I’ll be careful, but I also think you should find Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. I haven’t seen them since…” He didn’t like thinking about it, even if it did come up a lot in their conversations. _

_ Riku nodded, “Alright then. Be careful, Sora. The next time you’re in that type of trouble, just get out of it, and meet me at our usual place.” _

_ Sora sighed. There was more he wanted to say, a lot more, because he missed Riku, he missed the company of his friends, and having only himself to speak too was lonely. Except this was how it was going to be if they were going to fix what happened. _

_ As the dream began to fade away, and Riku looked back toward the horizon, Sora reached out to him, but it was already too late._

_He woke up._

* * *

Sora reached Twilight Town two hours later by finding a worm hole that he could easily get through, at the same time, drinking potions from the storage, and trying to get hyped for his next battle.

Except he couldn’t feel it, not like he did before. He always needed his friends, and having none felt lack luster. 

Once he reached Twilight Town, he beamed himself down to the surface of the forest that led to the Old Mansion. He walked toward it, the eeriness of the forest wasn’t as startling as it was in the world he had come from when he was looking for the previous Organization members. He wasn’t even sure if anything was going to scare him anymore. 

Sora stepped toward the iron wrought gate and smiled weakly at the Old Mansion that towered over in its hollow reminder of his other self. 

This place was familiar in more ways than one as he pushed the gate open and walked to the front door. He stepped inside and looked around. There was only old furniture and silence that made him shudder as he headed for the staircase to his left. 

This was Namine’s room. 

The bright white walls with the wide window and gossamer curtain made up the room. Including the marble furniture, and the drawings all over the floors and walls. 

It was hollow without Namine.

He walked around the room, his hope had dwindled when he opened the door and was greeted by no one. The room was quiet as the rest of the Old Mansion, and the only things left were dust, old cobwebs, and Namine’s drawings she left behind. 

He looked through them, all of them a piece of his own memory recorded on white paper and colorful crayons. 

There was little time to cry when he was on the run from the Organization that followed behind. Now, he was alone inside the white room, and his own exhaustion found him even with the taste of the sweet potion still on his tongue, he crumpled to the floor and cried. 

His tears are warm even if his skin is cold. And he stares at all the drawings he found on the walls and floors, before finding several on the table. He wipes them away from his face, and stares at them, trying to figure out what they meant. 

Sora picked them up and added them to the group, but his gaze kept returning to them. It was the world they came from, not Destiny Islands, but the one where everything had fallen apart. There was two direct red lines going through this particular drawing. Another with Kairi’s form becoming a watery substance, but the red line also pushed through it, another with Axel and Ventus lying on the ground, a red line went through it. 

“What is this?” he asked himself, trying to figure it out, but he couldn’t. His heart raced as if he knew what it meant, but at the same time, he didn’t. It made no sense. “Namine was here...but when?”

And then he found Roxas. 

A drawing of him with no red lines going through it, and he was wearing his organization coat, and was standing with Axel, but this was different from the one Namine had drawn before, because Vanitas stood beside them, and Ventus, along with a strange dark creature that had darkness flowing through it.

“Is this...real?” Sora asked, staring at the drawing before folding it up and tucking it into his pocket. He wanted to tell Riku about this, and he got up from the piles of drawings and headed out the door.

Why would Roxas, Axel, and Ventus be standing alongside Vanitas and a dark creature? Why? It didn’t make any sense, but right now, he wanted to believe that meant Roxas, Axel, and Ventus were okay, that they weren’t affected by whatever happened by the disaster that occurred.

It was good enough for him until he finds them. 

Sora heads toward the door of the Old Mansion, and he almost touches the handle when he feels another presence. Something familiar but muffled. He looks throughout the main floor of the Old Mansion and sees no one.

What was that? 

He shudders and quickly leaves. 

What Sora doesn’t know is that in the basement of the Old Mansion, through the halls that lead to a computer. The black screens turn on, and the synchronization starts up on a boy wearing a black coat who is slumped in the threshold of the portal. 

A press on the key activates the portal, and the boy’s body disappears.


	2. Plaza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku is looking for King Mickey, but he's not sure what he's actually doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates for this fanfiction. I forgot what I was going to write for this fic, and my notes are incredibly vague, it doesn't give me much to go on. I'll figure something out. :D Some chapters will be short...
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

After his contact with Sora, Riku had jolted awake in the forest. He didn’t want to worry Sora that he hadn’t truly gotten anywhere besides losing Aqua and Terra. Their trail had gone cold right away and it was difficult to locate them afterwards. His own failure cemented his need to look for them, but Riku knew something strange was going on. He didn’t know of what, but he can feel it every time he enters another world.

It’s as if the air itself shifts, or the buildings are different, the color schemes are inverted of some kind. He can’t put his finger on the differences, but he can feel it. He didn’t want ask Sora any more about the  _ disaster _ , even if it was still on his mind like an imprint.

Riku got up from the grass and started walking along the dark cobblestone path. He’d have to leave this world and enter another one sooner or later. For some reason or another, he had acquired his ability to enter portals again, and he asked himself if he ever lost it in the first place.

He looked to the night sky and contemplated what he was going to do next. He had to find the others. Riku opened a portal and walked through. He found himself in another world, this one looked more familiar to Traverse Town, except it was darker without the warm lights.

For a second as Riku walked down the street, he had thought he saw movement around the corner. He sprinted to the next street and found no one on the other side. He wasn’t imagining anything, was he?

He checked the other streets, including the alley’s, but found no one, and because of this odd feeling, it seemed to crawl along his skin as he headed toward a plaza. It was too dark to discern anything, and when he drew near, there was a figure in the center, small with round ears. 

“Mickey?” Riku said, heart pounding inside his chest. He bounded toward the King, but the darkness only seemed to fool his eyes because there was no one there. He was alone. There was no sign of any heartless either which made this more peculiar than usual.

“What is going on?” he asked himself. He knew he wasn’t imagining things this time, the darkness couldn’t trick him as it did before. He had seen the King, he was right in the center of the plaza where Riku was now standing. He hoped Sora wasn’t having these issues, but if he runs into Organization members, it might get worse for him.

Riku continued his search, only able to see the shadow moving a few times and calling Mickey’s name. No one ever answered, but he tried anyways. He felt farther away instead of getting closer to his goal. Even though he ended up running all over the place, he felt as if the night was never going to end.

Riku panted, leaning against a lamp post and found himself once again at the entrance of the plaza. He wasn’t getting anywhere while chasing shadows, and if anything, it might even be his mind that was messing with him.

“I have to find...Aqua and Terra.” He just didn’t know where they had gone too or what happened when he saw them before he lost sight of the direction they had gone. Now he was chasing shadows like an idiot. He wasn’t even sure where Ventus was, but it was out of the ordinary that this would’ve happened. He thought maybe he’d end up finding Kairi at some point, except…

Kairi disappeared, didn’t she?

And that was another thing. He had these moments, assumptions of some kind that was ingrained in his head as if he already knew what was going on, yet didn’t. He hadn’t seen Kairi, only when she was standing beside Sora before everything had collapsed around them, and he and Sora found themselves trailing after shadows. It felt like a never ending dream, and Riku didn’t want to believe that, not until he knew it was. 

If anything, he hoped Sora found her while he searched for the others. It would make more sense that way, but with the Organization hunting Sora, he might even have to intervene in some way to give Sora a lot more time. He just didn’t know when that’ll be. Maybe soon after he searches this place a bit longer, to make sure that no one was here and he wasn’t seeing things in the darkness.

Riku was about to take a step when he noticed another figure in the center of the plaza. This time it wasn’t the King, it was someone else, tall with silver hair. The darkness kept their face shrouded, and they didn’t seem that interested in their surroundings.

“Who...are you?” Riku asked.

“Sora,” the person spoke in a deep voice, unfamiliar to Riku besides the name they spoke.

“What did you just say?” Riku asked, fingers curling at his sides.

“You’re not Sora…”

Why were they looking for Sora anyway’s? He wasn’t in this world, and this person had randomly appeared out of nowhere. Unless he was the one Riku was chasing in the dark.

“Who are you? Tell me how you know Sora!”

The person didn’t say anything and in a blink of an eye, he wasn’t there anymore, and Riku glanced around the plaza and found no one else. Was this a dream? It had to be, right? Riku shivered, he didn’t know what was happening, the figure was silver haired, their eyes shrouded, he felt nothing in the air, no strange pressure that came from most Keyblade Wielders.

Riku continued his search throughout the world, calling Mickey’s name, and somewhat hoping to find the person that was searching for Sora. He’d have to tell him the next time they contact one another. And like how Riku felt before about Kairi, this person wasn’t like that. He didn’t know them, there was no strong familiar presence he had gotten from them. He thought it would be relevant because of what happened, but he isn’t so sure anymore.

Riku slowed down and caught his breath, only to feel something strong in the air. This kind of pressure pushed against his shoulders, his senses were alert, and he turned toward where it was coming from as if it were a beacon. Any keyblade wielder would’ve noticed the shift.

“There’s another one here…” And he figured it wasn’t the person he had seen earlier, this was completely different, a strong scent of ice filled the air, it was darkness wafting along the ground like a mist if it weren’t for the presence growing stronger and stronger.

Riku readied himself as the darkness became thick and the footsteps were audible from where he was. The stride of the person was purposeful and when they came into sight, Riku gritted his teeth, heart racing.

“You...what are you doing here?” he asked.

They stopped, black metallic helmet obscuring their face, standing with pride, and even without seeing his face, Riku knew he was grinning at him.

“I should be asking you that.” A keyblade appeared in Vanitas’ hand, and then he pushed himself away from where he stood, and Riku had a split second to summon his blade, and he brought it up to block the incoming attack. Their blades clashed together. Riku was shoved back, barely skidding along the cement while blocking another attack, listening to Vanitas grunt before Riku pushed him back, and he held his keyblade loosely, letting out a humorous chuckle.

“You’re not the one I’m looking for, I was hoping you knew where Ventus was.”

“No idea,” Riku said, gripping the handle of his blade, ready for the next attack if it came, but Vanitas seemed more intent in speaking his aggravation.

“Do you realize how long I’ve been looking for him, and yet I find you in this world, wandering around as if your head is cut off.”

Riku glared, “What is that supposed to mean? Were you watching me?”

“Not too long, but you run in circles way too much, I had to stop you from getting dizzy.”

“How nice of you,” said Riku, “but I don’t need your help.”

“But I need yours, where is Sora, I’m sure he knows where Ventus is.”

“He isn’t looking for Ventus.”

Vanitas scoffed. “What are you looking for, Riku? A way out?”

Riku had no idea what Vanitas was talking about, the pressure between them fought against one another, almost evening out. He had fought Vanitas before, gone up against him, but when...when did that happen?

“I don’t know where Ventus is, but since you’re asking, might want to tell me where King Mickey is?” Riku asked.

“No,” Vanitas waved his keyblade before letting it fall, disappearing before it could hit the ground. “I have no idea where your King is, I’m looking for Ventus inside this world…”

“Why this world?” 

“Because he’s here...I know he’s here…” He didn’t sound sure, and Riku was realizing quickly that Vanitas was confused.

“How long have you been here?” Riku asked, “how long have you been looking for him?”

“Too long,” Vanitas said, anger lacing through his words, the tension in his body was too obvious from where Riku stood. “You haven’t been here for long...what makes you think your King is here if Ventus isn’t here either.”

Why were they attracted to this world of darkness? It wasn’t even in the realm of darkness itself, the lights were out, no sign of heartless, no one to attack them but each other.

Is this real?

“I haven’t seen Ventus.”

“You’re lying,” Vanitas said, “you have to be lying.”

“I’m not,” Riku told him. “The last time I seen Ventus is…” A place they weren’t supposed to think of, a place that was covered in an unending blue sky while the wind picked up the dust in a heavy vortex. It was a flicker, an image inside of Riku’s mind, barely plausible, and when he looked to Vanitas, the confusion thickened in the air.

“You’re lying,” Vanitas said, stepping back, “if you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to continue looking, maybe I’ll even find Aqua and Terra. Maybe then...I’ll find Ventus.”

Then he was gone before Riku could tell him to stop, the portal disappeared, and Riku was alone, the pressure gone. He wandered along the sidewalk toward the plaza where he had seen Mickey, when he had spotted the strange person standing in the center, but this time, there was no one, and Riku wasn’t sure what he was doing, or if Vanitas was.

Was he just running in circles?


	3. Drown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora is looking for the light of his friends.

They were shadows of their former self, and because of that reason, Sora was forced to run. The next to come after him was a woman with electricity slamming into the earth. It was difficult to escape the first few times until a bolt hit him and his body spasmed while his keyblade fell to the ground, disappearing in the dark. Her laughter sang in the air, eerie and harsh like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

He groaned, teeth gritted, fingers digging into the earth as he forced himself to crawl until he got to his feet and started running again. He was exhausted, heart pounding painfully in his chest, throat burning, legs weak. He wanted to stop, except that wasn’t an option, and he could hear Riku’s voice telling him to run and not stop, never to give up. He wanted too so badly.

“Ri-Ri…” Sora gasped as another wave of electricity slammed into the ground, yellow blades were thrown past him, he felt the air thin, and the burn was so close, “Riku...Riku! I...can’t!” 

He curled his fingers and twisted around, pushing himself up as his keyblade appeared in his hand, and he knocked the blades from the air before tossing his keyblade at the organization member. She dodged it, laughing, like a puppet, she wouldn’t speak like the others. None of them were ever responsive, besides relentlessly attacking him.

Sora landed on the ground, almost stumbling back while the woman pulled something from within her black coat. He figured it was more knives, and he was getting ready to block them, but then what she pulled out stunned him to the point he could hardly move, or even breathe.

The woman pulled Kairi’s charm, and she was swinging it towards him, and he could see the smirk spread across her lips as if mocking him.

“H-How did you get that?” he asked her. He was sure that Kairi had it. He gave it back to her. How did this woman get it? 

Kairi...when was the last time...no...he promised Riku he wouldn’t think about it. The day when things changed. 

“Where is she?” he demanded, gripping the handle of his keyblade. He felt the rise of anger inside of him, including the worry that stabbed him if this woman had come close to hurting Kairi.

The woman laughed, swinging the lucky charm back and forth. This was making him more angry, and it grew to the point Sora let out a scream, and sprinted towards the organization member, and to his surprise, she disappeared. He didn’t expect that to happen. The path he was standing on was now empty besides Kairi’s charm lying where the woman had stood.

Sora panted, trying to gain back the breath he used to sprint away from the organization member. He wiped the sweat from his face before reaching down and grasping the charm. It was real, solid in his hand, and looked as he remembered it when she first gave it to him. 

They always bonded over promises, but he hadn’t made her one this time, not since...the _ disaster_. 

Sora winced at the brief image of a blotted out sky before stuffing the charm into his pocket. He didn’t want to think about it. It was bad enough he barely knew what it meant, and he knew that it also hurt Riku to remember as well. Something happened, but it was no longer the point. They had to find their friends.

“First Roxas,” Sora stared at the photo he was given by another organization member, “and now Kairi.” He held both items in either hand, and frowned at the significance of both. They were precious objects, not meant to be lost or forgotten. He hated it that these organization members had them and were simply dropping them on the ground as if they don’t matter. 

“I have to tell Riku,” Sora said while putting the objects back into his pockets. He didn’t even know where Riku was, they only ever met in their dreams. A source of communication only for them. He didn’t know when that started happening, time seemed to change every now and then, not in the linear time, but in a more shifting manner that left his memories undesirable. It never made sense to him, and Riku told him not to worry about it.

_ Look for them. _

Sora shuddered as he walked along the path. When did everything start, and where would it end. He had the instinct to keep on walking, to run, to hide, to seek out the ones who were lost. He sensed them in all directions and because of the light that sang to him, he tried to differentiate them from one another. He sensed way too much, spotted their lights in the shadows.

“Why am I always surrounded by shadows?” Sora wondered, then he fell to his knees, panting hard through gritted teeth. The darkness was cold. It slithered along his skin, making his clothes feel uncomfortable, and the smell of his friends grow stronger. Their lights were beginning to dim, and he tried his hardest to reach out for them.

There was another pressure, unfamiliar to Sora as he let out a groan. The cold was falling off his body in waves while he grasped for control. Even how little it was. He recalled Riku’s advice when this happened before, he grasped him by the face, and told Sora to think of pleasant memories, and those memories will keep him in the realm of light.

Pleasant.

When he was a child, he played hide-and-go seek on the island with his friends. Childhood was easy for him, it was never full of responsibility. It was days in the sun, or sitting on the sand, or playing the water…water...the ocean grew darker in the horizon, a depth that Riku advised him never to go near.

* * *

_ “No one will be able to get you back if you go out there,” Riku said. _

_ “Not even you?” he asked. _

_ Riku frowned, looking out toward the ocean. “I’ll sink with you, if it comes to it.” _

_ Sora wrinkled his nose at his response. “No. I don’t want to drown.” He raised his arms into the sky and said with a determined smile, “ I’ll save us.” _

_ Riku returned the smile and leaned against him, “Then I’ll try my best too.”_

* * *

The slight pressure was growing closer to him as Sora’s words came out in uneven slurs, a growl rolling along his tongue as he grasped the dirt with his fingers, digging deeper, trying to hold onto something.

“Well, well, didn’t expect this.” The voice was unfamiliar, a sly tone, almost sarcastic, but genuinely surprised.

Sora didn’t respond. He wanted to think of the time when he ate ice-cream with Riku, and they bought some for Kairi when she had first come to the island. She was shy and quiet, but they were able to get her out of her shell. Riku was more clever with words then Sora who almost dropped the ice-cream.

“You’re consuming yourself in darkness.” The man tsked. A tapping was heard from behind Sora, but he couldn’t move from where he was on the ground. A weight was on him, not easily movable as he tried to speak, but all that came out was mumbled words that sounded like nothing.

“We can’t exactly have that, can we? I mean...not yet, at least.” Sora’s ear twitched when he heard a keyblade being summoned, then he felt a warmth surrounding him, the cold was pushed away, and Sora gasped out as if something was lodged in his throat that was now free. What just happened?

“That feels better, right?”

Sora glanced to one side and the next, unsure of what he was doing before twisting his body on the ground. He looked up and found himself staring at a hooded figure. He wore the organization coat, but this one held a blade, black and silver, strange in design before it disappeared completely.

“W-Who are you?” Sora asked.

“Me?” the hooded figure said, a hand against his chest, a chuckle escaped him. “Oh, I’m no one, I’m just stopping by to see how you were doing.”

“What? Why?” Sora asked, slowly getting to his feet. He was still exhausted and wasn’t sure if he was able to fight a keyblade wielder. This man was a lot taller than him, mysterious in appearance, and not threatening in the least.

“Oh, I don’t know,” the hooded man said, walking five paces to the left, a hand on his hip, another placed to his head. “You’re not close to where you’re trying to go, but you came for what you wanted, right?”

What? Sora touched his pocket where Kairi’s charm was. “You knew about this?” he asked, cautiously.

The hooded man chuckled. “You can use it to track them by their resonance.”

“Resonance?” Sora examined the charm, but he didn’t understand what the man was talking about.

“Yes, we all have a resonance, and since your friends are synchronized to yours, you can easily find them without falling to darkness.” He tsked, disappointed. “You followed the denizen of darkness, thinking they were going to lead you to your friends, but all they were doing was trying to control you. How unfortunate, and I was hoping you were at least smart enough to understand their reasons.”

Sora raised his eyes, frowning. “They were leading me into darkness?”

“It’s quite obvious they were. Someone like you, drenched in light for as long as you have, can possibly feel the cold of darkness sweeping the ground we stand on.” He waved his hand. “I can see their ploy before you could, they were leading you away from the light, and they were going to watch you drown completely.”

Sora looked around the area. It was a clearing with trees lining the edges with a pathway coming straight through. He hadn’t realized it, he thought it was simply night.

“Thank you...I think,” Sora said, tucking Kairi’s charm back into his pocket. “Why are you trying to help me?”

“I’m making sure you stay on the right path,” the man said, placing his hands behind his back. “The resonance will lead you to the ones who haven’t been consumed by the _ disaster_.”

Sora gasped, a throbbing pain attacked every side of his head, and with the intense pain, he fell to his knees once again, fingers digging into his head, trying to stop the memories flowing inside his head, all of them lost to him in shadow. He felt them, he familiarized himself with them.

He held his hand out, and when Sora opened his eyes, he almost had the vague thought he was reaching out to her, to him, but the hooded man was no longer on the path, and Sora wasn’t sure if he was ever there.


	4. Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He collects the light to regain what he has lost, but why did he lose them in the first place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the lack of updates. It has been some time... :/ I decided to properly outline this fic, so hopefully now that I have a map, I'll be able to continue the updates than skipping months or weeks. Or...so I hope. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He’s not sure when it started, or what day it was. He had spent too long, lost in an unknown place, with either the cold becoming ice on his skin, or the heat burning him up.

Empty.

Not a single thought was his. Nothing to remind him of where he had been before all of this, and where he was meant to go. Not even a name could tell him the truth. He pressed his hands to his chest and tried to recall the feeling of a heart, but there was nothing there, and he had come to the conclusion he might simply be dead.

There was a light, warmth, and he followed down a dark street until he stepped closer toward the small ball of light hanging in the air in the center of the road. Everything was oddly matte from a previous rainfall, and he had looked around for anyone else’s appearance, yet it was just him and the light.

The moment his fingers touched the orb, the light absorbed into his skin, and he had stumbled back, feeling up his arm where the light seeped inside until it settled where his heart had resided. He felt for the warmth and breathed steadily. Barely a pulse, but it was there, and it was his.

“Do I have to find them?” he asked, looking around the dark streets, trying to gauge where the next lights were. He placed his hand before him and closed his eyes, he searched for the light until as he slowly came to a stop after spinning, he opened his eyes and walked down an alley.

There was warmth coming from the depths, and within were the sounds of wailing, soft growls, nails scraping against the asphalt road and cement buildings. He was not afraid of any of it. It was familiar, as if he knew the sounds as much as he knew the roads and the way the buildings curved sharply, and every shadow and crevice that was within this place. He knew it so well it must have burned inside his head once before he forgot his own mind.

“Why am I here?” he asked, a rasp in the back of his throat as he continued down the alley to his right. A much brighter light revealed the darkness, and when he peered up, all he could see was a white-ish blue moon in the shape of a massive heart.

There was no warmth that came from the heart itself. He knew what it was, or the feeling of it, as if he had been so close to touching it once that he didn’t have to second guess himself.

“A false heart in a false world…” he said under his breath as he leaned against the smooth wall. Even the building itself was artificial. Empty inside, not meant to ever be used for others, but an object that filled the world. Was he like that too? Is that why he was here? A way to fill the world.

He searched out for the light until he found it sitting in the center at the end of the alley. It glowed, pushing back the darkness, and all that growled for it, unable to attack the strange object while he stepped close enough to touch and absorb it.

A chill crawled up his spine and he let out a brittle gasp before falling to his knees. A pulse escaped his body, as if there was something else trying to leave. He squeezed his eyes, fingers curling, and he tasted the darkness that were drawing closer around him. They didn’t speak normally, and he knew them simply by familiarity. And yet, the light within him was rearranging something else inside his body, his mind, and there were strong flashes he hadn’t yet thought he would experience.

“Roxas…” he breathed, a pulse in his chest almost made him think he had a heart, and he clutched the front of his black coat, almost ripping the fabric if it weren’t for the calm that settled upon him. He knew the name because it was his own, and he had grasped it in both hands, desperate to hang onto the name.

Mine. It was mine.

Roxas stood up on his own legs and glanced around the lonely alley. There was no darkness trembling around him, it didn’t come close to touching him, and yet he felt its strange presence. It was his and no one else’s, but he knew it wasn’t at the same time. The darkness did not belong, and it never will, maybe Roxas was only fooling himself that he hoped he could belong somewhere, with anyone.

“Where are you?” he asked, searching the alley before stepping onto the street. The quiet did not sing, it did not howl, it was simply a silence that ached, like all the times when he was curled on a bed, the chill never leaving the white floors and the white walls, and he was stuck...unable to leave, unable to return.

Roxas gasped, a pain in his chest, a beat that was not meant to be there. He clutched his coat again, trying to steady his breathing as the pain spread throughout his body, reminding him of what he had lost.

“Where are you?” he asked, unsure who he was asking as he followed the same warmth he had been searching out for some time. He had to know more, and if he didn’t, he would wander this place until he’d eventually lose himself again.

He sensed the warmth once again, following after it and before he knew it, Roxas was sprinting down street after street, through alleys, and around the corners until he realized he had run into a circle. He glanced back, confused, before continuing after the light until he heard sniffling sounds coming from somewhere up ahead.

He hadn’t heard any noise since he came to this place, and now there was a change. Wasn’t he the only one here? Or were there more people that he didn’t know about?

Roxas slowed his pace at the question, finding it odd he would ask the question and wondering if he knew from the beginning that there had been more. More of who? He didn’t know their names, but like the walls, they were cold to stand around, as if their hearts didn’t beat like his own. Some mimicked a human emotion, so raw that they’d get it wrong, a weird puppet experience that had Roxas wanting to know how to do the same.

It took time for him to get it right, and sooner or later, he didn’t have to.

Why was that?

He found the light, but the sniffling turned into sobbing, and there was an odd distortion to it. As if something was both cutting out and growing too loud, or becoming too quiet. He reached for the light and absorbed it, the intensity of the pulse in his body had him on his knees once again.

Except instead of it remaining inside his chest, it had gone to his head, and Roxas curled his fingers into his blonde hair to stop the pain from hurting. He groaned and thrashed, barely biting his teeth and only feeling the throbbing of a scrape while something else appeared in his mind's eye.

It was forced in front of him, a wall of flame, a bright light slashing around him until Roxas jolted to his feet and he gripped the handle of some type of weapon. It was both heavy and light, an oddity, as he managed to block the attack of a creature standing before him.

“What?” Roxas said, blinking, uncertain that he was seeing it correctly. The shadows had engulfed it completely, and the sobbing continued, followed by distorted voices he couldn’t make out.  “Who are you?” he asked, then looking down at the weapon that was now in his hand. A flash of memory appeared and the name sat on his tongue.  _ Keyblade. _ He marveled over it, unsure why he had it in the first place, and when he looked at the creature, it was gone from where it was standing.

Roxas had the strong desire to know where he was and what he was supposed to do. He managed to only capture three light orbs, and with the warmth and the memories returning, he had more questions piling up inside his head.

Why was he here in this place steeped in darkness? The cold was as artificial as the buildings, as the ground he was standing on, and that worried him for his own presence over his being. Was he as artificial, and if so, did that mean he was either allowed to coexist, or there was no place for him to do so. Stagnant alongside forgotten things.

Those bitter thoughts made him shudder and an anger rose inside of him. He didn’t want to be forgotten, he wanted to find his friends, he wanted to escape, he wanted...there weren't much memories for what he wanted besides what he can get from the orbs.

Roxas let go of the weapon and it disappeared as he continued searching out the orbs, hoping in some way he could remember who Axel and Xion were to him.


End file.
